Pakistan

Current issues and comments...

Pakistani blogospehre is growing each year and many new bloggers have entered the cyber world. During the outgoing year, Pakistani blogs have been noticed by international and regional media, Pakistani news channels not to mention the millions at home and abroad.

For a nation put to sleep by many a sermons of religious purpose, the mass bloodshed of innocent brethren comes as no surprise. We pray to an invisible God, believe in the words of the invincible preachers and devote our lives to chant verse after verse like imbecile parrots. We believe in those who make us believe in them and abandon any who dares dissent. We declare those who worship our exclusive Gods in any way other than the one deemed appropriate by us as heretics. And yes, we do condone the execution of one transgressor after another in the name of blasphemy.

We, the people of the fading green flag, the aloof crescent with the bleak star, take religion seriously. We live and die for it. We kill and reincarnate in its name. We trace our origin and destination to be religious perfection. And we perfect others more than ourselves. We perfect our neighbor before our kin. We burn their mosques before illuminating our own. And we ostracize them before including ourselves. We march forward as a herd of mindless sheep whose shepherd has gone astray. And once lost in utter chaos we hold faith. In time of need and otherwise, we always hold faith.

While our faith is intense and potent, we rest it in the hands of self-appointed custodians and go about carrying our affairs with the nonchalance of beings bereft of responsibility. We believe in them and their virtuous service but we do not take onus of our blind acquiescence. We condemn the strangers executing our brethren one after the other but we never wonder about where the wizards of doom emerge from. We plough to make our land fertile for strife and exonerate those planting the seeds of bloodshed. And when it is time to reap the fruit of our doing we stare exasperated at each other pointing fingers.

You see, we are believers. We believe and we believe well. If only we were thinkers or doers.